‘Night at the Museum’ again tops box office

Los Angeles  Ben Stiller's playful "Night at the Museum" was the top box office draw during the New Year's weekend with $37.8 million, a 24 percent jump over its debut the previous week, according to studio estimates released Sunday.

Uplifting movies dominated the Top 10 for the holiday weekend, a busy period at turnstiles.

Will Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness" took second place with $19.3 million, up 30 percent, while the musical "Dreamgirls" finished third with $15.5 million.

"The Pursuit of Happyness" was expected to cross the $100 million threshold today.

No. 4 "Charlotte's Web" was up 59 percent with $12 million in its third week. "Rocky Balboa" was in fifth place with $11.4 million.

No new movies went into wide release.

"Dreamgirls" saw a major surge in business, averaging a whopping $18,192 per screen as Paramount rolled it out slowly with word-of-mouth creating a buzz. It was showing on just 852 screens, compared with 3,768 for "Night at the Museum."

"Dreamgirls," the first musical sensation since "Chicago" in 2002, will expand to about 1,800 screens on Jan. 12.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Wednesday.